Sandblasting, and transport

[Talkwrench]

Flatinfourth said:

Some mostly right stuff.... but

Vapour blasting cleans castings perfectly (carbs etc)without dangerous residue.

Sadly, not true. Vapour blasting uses fine glass in what amounts to a 'slurry'.
It leaves a lovely finish but also leaves very fine particles of glass embedded in the surface of the alloy. A few heat cycles later and those fine particles start to be released.
Never, ever vapour blast crank cases, cylinder heads, carburettors or any other surface where there is a possibility of those particles of glass getting inside your engine. You don't need much to write off an expensive engine rebuild......

All blast medias have their place and cars can be very successfully blasted with no damage whatsoever - but it is down to the experience and patience of the operator more than anything else. Run away from a cheap quote. They'll rush it and ruin it. A good job takes a long time. I recently blasted a 1950's Bentley. A mixture of steel panels and alloy panels. It took 5 days and every panel was perfect and undamaged. Last week we did most of an E Type. 4 days for a perfect job with absolutely no panel distortion. We also strongly recommend etch priming immediately and with both the above jobs, they were etched within hours of blasting each part. Soda protects against rust up to a point but is best suited to very select areas and the residue must be removed very thoroughly before painting.

[Flatinfourth]

Talkwrench said:

Flatinfourth said:

Some mostly right stuff.... but

Vapour blasting cleans castings perfectly (carbs etc)without dangerous residue.

Sadly, not true. Vapour blasting uses fine glass in what amounts to a 'slurry'.
It leaves a lovely finish but also leaves very fine particles of glass embedded in the surface of the alloy. A few heat cycles later and those fine particles start to be released.
Never, ever vapour blast crank cases, cylinder heads, carburettors or any other surface where there is a possibility of those particles of glass getting inside your engine. You don't need much to write off an expensive engine rebuild......

Absolutely not true i'm afraid. I operate a professional business and am not the sort of person who posts something without having a reasonable grasp of the subject.
Indeed if you vapour blast with an inappropriate media then trouble occurs, but why would anyone do that? As an example a diesel injector pump runs finer tolerances than a typical car engine, and has no capability to stand foreign matter imbedded in the casings. With such an item vapour blasting -with the correct media - is the way to clean the item properly.

[Talkwrench]

Flatinfourth said:

Absolutely not true i'm afraid. I operate a professional business and am not the sort of person who posts something without having a reasonable grasp of the subject.
Indeed if you vapour blast with an inappropriate media then trouble occurs, but why would anyone do that? As an example a diesel injector pump runs finer tolerances than a typical car engine, and has no capability to stand foreign matter imbedded in the casings. With such an item vapour blasting -with the correct media - is the way to clean the item properly.

I'm sure you are very professional and knowledgeable. I was not disputing that and I'm sorry if I inferred that.
I just wouldn't trust vapour blasting any alloy parts in an engine - but that's my preference.

[Flatinfourth]

Talkwrench said:

Flatinfourth said:

Absolutely not true i'm afraid. I operate a professional business and am not the sort of person who posts something without having a reasonable grasp of the subject.
Indeed if you vapour blast with an inappropriate media then trouble occurs, but why would anyone do that? As an example a diesel injector pump runs finer tolerances than a typical car engine, and has no capability to stand foreign matter imbedded in the casings. With such an item vapour blasting -with the correct media - is the way to clean the item properly.

I'm sure you are very professional and knowledgeable. I was not disputing that and I'm sorry if I inferred that.
I just wouldn't trust vapour blasting any alloy parts in an engine - but that's my preference.

No problem at all. As with everything in restoration, it's all about using the right person to do the job, as a good pro that does high value, high risk work will make the right choices. with my chosen supplier there are 10 choices of vapour blasting media, and they do the kind of work where the item is irreplaceable, and sometimes the kindof work where a security guard arrives with, and stays in sight of the job!

[ChevyBloke]

Hi, I'm new on here and considering media blasting.

As a bit of an old boy I've heard in the past of walnut shell media being used. Is this old hat now? Most people I've spoken to me have laughed and say glass is the way forward.

true or false!

Cheers

Andy

[Yertis]

Flatinfourth said:

Dipping has pitfalls. it leaves ALL the hidden internal surfaces and spot welded flanges absolutely naked and roar even if the neutralising solution has done its job.Blasting leaves all those areas alone. If a car is dipped you really do have to then use an immersion priming process to repaint all the internals. that generally near doubles the cost.

FiF, does that mean that provided you also do the whole etch priming service that a principle player in the dipping game offers, then dipping is OK? I've read all the horror stories but the idea of sending a grotty shell off and having it come back ready to play has quite a strong appeal.

[Flatinfourth]

Yertis said:

Flatinfourth said:

Dipping has pitfalls. it leaves ALL the hidden internal surfaces and spot welded flanges absolutely naked and roar even if the neutralising solution has done its job.Blasting leaves all those areas alone. If a car is dipped you really do have to then use an immersion priming process to repaint all the internals. that generally near doubles the cost.

FiF, does that mean that provided you also do the whole etch priming service that a principle player in the dipping game offers, then dipping is OK? I've read all the horror stories but the idea of sending a grotty shell off and having it come back ready to play has quite a strong appeal.

Yes,as long as the process is actually immersion priming, as the principal difference between blasting and dipping is that with blasting you can repaint any area cleaned off, whereas dipping leaves a huge area of roar steel out of reach of any spraygun. The immersion priming appears to come at considerable cost unless someone knows different?

[DeanR32]

I forgot about this thread.

Flat in fourth, I did call you at the shop shortly after you gave me your number, but you must have been busy. Since then I've had all sorts of crap going on and the car has taken a back seat.

When I eventually get round to cracking on with the car, I'd still love to pick your brains on some bits and pieces.